Skydiver dies in accident Saturday

The 39-year-old man who died while parachute jumping Saturday evening had already done five one-on-one instructional jumps that day, says Adam Mabee, president of the Parachute School of Toronto Limited in Georgina, On.

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Mabee would not release any more information about the man because he was unsure whether his next of kin had been notified, he said.

“He was well-known, respected and liked,” Mabee said, adding that he was a highly experienced skydiver. “He was a good guy to have around the skydiving community”.

The man did most of his jumps at other skydiving centres across Ontario, but jumped at the Georgina school periodically, Mabee said.

Mabee said on Saturday evening, the man was doing a recreational jump, flying his own parachute and doing a jump he had done many times before.

The man had planned to do a landing that involved skimming across the grass but instead, he hit the ground at a shallow angle at a high speed. It seemed as though the man could not control his parachute and make it lie flat, the way he had wanted it to. He is unsure why the man landed this way.

“He has done this type of landing many times before,” Mabee said.

So what lessons can other parachute jumpers take from this?

“It is exciting, it is fun, but caution is prudent,” Mabee said. “There is little room for error."

It is too early to say which changes the school will make in light of what happened, Mabee added.

“We are looking at our actions carefully to see if anything can be done to improve safety,” he said. ”This doesn’t change anything about the risks in the sport. Risks exist.”

There have been two other fatal jumps connected to the school in the past year.

In May, 28-year-old Alana Shamrock died after experiencing equipment failure, and last year 42-year-old Igor Zaitsev was killed after losing control of his parachute.